Is there a link between reality shows and suicide?
An investigation by TheWrap, an entertainment website, found that 11 people have killed themselves "in tragedies that appear to be linked to their experience on television shows."
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Monday's few ratings highlights:• A Hell's Kitchen leftover (3.95 million total viewers) bested an Age of Love repeat (3.6 mil) to oh-so-proudly lay claim to third place in the reruns-filled 8 o'clock hour.• At 9, a fresh Hell's Kitchen drew 7.88 mil, enjoying a week-to-week surge of 660,000. A new Age (4.75 mil), meanwhile, broke up with 700K more viewers. Holy crap, the "kittens" are boring.• Extreme Makeover returned to a hair (plug) over six million viewers, a 2.5 mil improvement over time-slot predecessor Ex-Wives Club.
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Extreme Makover’s first plastic surgeon Garth Fisher and former Playboy model Jessica Canseco wed on June 23 in their Bel-Air home. The flower girls were Fisher’s two daughters from his previous marriage — Neriah, 7, and Sierra, 5 — and Canseco’s daughter Josie, 10. Fisher popped the question at a 2006 holiday party thrown by Dr. 90210 plastic surgeon Paul Nassif, who introduced the couple. During the summer run of Makeover, Fisher will be featured on the July 9 episode. — Reporting by Dani Dornfeld
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A flurry of scheduling announcements from the Alphabet network:• After one ridiculously low-rated week back on the air, Extreme Makeover "people edition" has been pulled, to be replaced on Fridays at 8 by Grey's Anatomy repeats. (Speaking of extreme makeovers, check out my Nip/Tuck contribution to the Ausiello Report appearing in the Nov. 5 TV Guide.)• February 7 has been confirmed as the return date for Lost, which goes on hiatus after the Nov. 8 episode to free up the time slot for Taye Diggs' Day Break (which I started watching last night and it is, like, wowee-zowee good).• Boston Legal returns to its original Sunday-at-10 time slot on Nov. 26 for a special airing of the first of a two-part episode, to conclude on Nov. 28.
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Question: I have watched all the episodes of Ugly Betty so far, and I really enjoy the show on many levels. I love (and hate) that "poor Betty" moment that seems to occur at least once per episode (you know, when some wafer-thin coworker attempts to humiliate her at a staff meeting or some such). The only problem I have with the show, honestly, is that as believable as Betty is in terms of her disposition and courage, she is utterly unbelievable to me in terms of her looks. A woman (whether she's raised in Queens, the rural Midwest or Seattle) who wants to work at the most successful fashion magazine in America would presumably have some minor interest in fashion and/or personal beauty. I just have a hard time buying the idea that Betty, who is by no means ugly, would have no interest in or ability to present herself with a certain amount of style and grace. If she has no interest in fashion, why is she working at such a prestigious publication? And if she does have an interest in ...
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